when will i be famous?

by Lounge Lizard

Photos by input_output (Shahrul)

Singaporean indie recluses, Camra (http://www.camraroc.com) has finally emerged from its cocoon after all these years. Since its inception in the mid 90's, the 4-man group has been crafting its blend of ambient guitar over hynoptic grooves. Wildly hailed as the local answer to defunct British group The Verve, they were plucked to be featured in BigO Singles Club No. 4. Never a group to rest on their laurels, the quartet constantly challenged the songwriting abilities and arrangement skills by collaborating with a string quartet and a tabla player for one of their performances.

In 2004, they finally released their long-delayed debut album, Normally Open. Aging Youth talk to Marvin Das (vocals), Daryl Chow (guitars/keyboards/sitars/vocals), Robin Ng (bass/sitars/vocals) and Mervyn Asher (drums/percussions) about Normally Open, that infamous The Verve comparison and their wild-partying days. The Bros (a 80s boyband) loving group will be opening for indie rock band IF at Prince Of Wales pub on Friday 10 June 2005 at 2100hr.

It's been said "A band which drinks together stays together". How true is that?

Marvin : Sure, as long as they don't puke on my shoes.

Asher : Yes indeed, that explains why we went through so many personnel changes. If you can't drink, you can't play.

Robin : That's what you get when you have 2 Indians, 1 seafarer and a preacher.

Daryl : Erm, yah. (Hi. Welcome to camraclub, aka Alcoholic Anonymous)... Though the last time I got pissed drunk was more than 5 years ago!

The 4 of you guys have been playing together since Secondary School. I find it highly interesting that Camra is truly a group of different individuals with personalities which are so far apart. Daryl is the quiet, introspective guitarist while Asher is the sturdy drummer, forming the backbone of the band. Besides playing bass, Robin is the butt of the jokes. Marvin is the extrovert lead singer, flamboyant and outspoken. Is there a special chemistry between the 4 of you guys that is irreplaceable?

Marvin : I beg to differ, Asher is flabby.

Robin : Our humor, and the fact that we started learning our instruments together as a makeshift band whilst improving as individuals.

Asher : There is definitely some sort of chemistry going between us. It's hard to point it out, its just one of those things you know, like when we play together, we just click really well.

Marvin : Like, ugh... right on dude.

Daryl : It's the classic case where "the sum of the whole is greater than each part". I agree with Rob that we couldn't even play our instruments well when we formed the band, which might attribute to our tolerance and acceptance of one another.

Camra's songs are often long and meandering by nature. Marvin once declared to me that he doesn't care if other folks think Camra is too self-indulgent.

Marvin : I think someone else other than me should say something about this.

Robin : Personally I think it's embedded in us because of our metal and classic rock roots, the notion of structuring various movements and... maybe we're just bored with playing the same riffs for 3 minutes. Also, it could stem from the fact that basically we're a vibe-infused band, meaning we tend to structure our songs from long jams.

Asher : Yeah! Finally someone else has pointed that out to us; I can now look forward to short 2 to 3-minute numbers.

(Awkward silence from Marvin and Robin)

Daryl : I beg to differ. I don't think we are too self-indulgent... Just that we can't decide when and how to end the songs! Besides, nobody complained when Bach wrote concertos that goes on for more than 7 minutes. As for Asher's point, we appeased him of late as our newer materials fall below the 4-minute mark.

With the exception of Stoned Revivals' late-Nineties output, I would have to say Normally Open is the only Singaporean album I have heard so far which focuses so much on the instrumentation and the arrangement. There are shitloads of orchestral strings (not MIDI, mind you), sitars and tablas. Was it a conscious decision to include those decidedly non-rock instruments in the album?

Robin : Ughhhh

Asher : Ughhhh

Marvin : Ughhhh

Robin : I've never seen our music as straight out rock tunes. And we've never limited ourselves to pure rock instrumentations. Heck, if the song needs a pipa solo, we'll put it in...

Marvin : Yeah sure, whatever Robin says.

Daryl : I think Robin can play the pipa aye? I guess we felt a strong compulsion to serve what the songs needed, as each unique tune on its own right, in the context of a whole in the album. So yes, at some point, our raw emotional gut feelings had to become a conscious decision to tangiblise (sic) what we hear in our heads. Simply because we had to sit down, bite our fingers and notate all the different parts, especially for the string quartet section, which comprised of only 3 players in the ensemble (the 1st violinist doubled up as the 2nd violinist)! It was hell scouting for the musicians!

I spent futile hours wandering Singapore, calling all sorts of musicians who might know other musicians, auditioning likely sessionists (one of them who turned out to be into wicca! phew...) and who would do it for, erm... free. At such points, Randolf Arriola, our producer and main sound engineer, really helped to keep things grounded. On that note, we were humbled by the process of the arduous recording, as we learned to approach Normally Open with the mantra, "Less is more", as deceiving as it might sound.

How did you guys manage to convince these classical musicians to play on the album?

Marvin : Let's just say we paid them ample lip service ok. Next!

Robin : We promised them we won't ugh... fornicate with their sisters???

Daryl : Passion, and a whole lot of persistence! We previously had a bunch of boys from Singapore Polytechnic who performed with us before. But we found that they really had difficulties staying in tune with a rock band and an un-classical score to play with. Later on, my neighbour who came to tune my ancient upright piano (which we found out was un-tunable!) recommended me to contact this chap who teaches violins and might have an interest in such a collaboration. See Ching (our 1st and 2nd violinist) was really intrigued and amused with us at the beginning. I spent hours explaining to him what we had in mind, with the scraps of notation that looked like Hindu inscriptions and convincing him that it would work.

Clearly, I had no grounds to win him over as I had neither classical training nor transcribing skills. I had to learn from our keyboardist, Jassica how to notate from scratch... it was like crash course 101! But when he heard the demo piece for the string section on 'My Reflections' and 'Revelation', he was thrilled with the idea and the approach. They were so unconventional for a technical and precise classical player.

What was more interesting was how See Ching managed to convince his lounge gigging partner, a cellist and another friend, a violist to play with us. The violist was most skeptical with us! But the funny thing was he had difficulty catching up and staying in tune! And I was to find out that he and the cellist were Singapore Symphony Orchestra members! But the beautiful thing was that it all fitted. See Ching's enthusiasm really helped to spark a lot of things. Randolf, Marvin and I were almost moved to tears when we heard the raw takes. I also began to appreciate the sensitivity of string instruments such as violins and cello which are a lot harder to stay in key, compared to the likes of piano and guitars.

In an interview with Daniel Sassoon (of Electrico) for defunct Singapore rock magazine BigO back in 1999, Daryl and Robin mentioned that they were taking sitar lessons. What attracted you guys to this instrument?

Asher : I think it's Daryl and Robin's secret burning ambition to "Tamilify" their lives, but hell with it, it's all good.

Marvin : Indeed, after all, Asher and I are Indians and we didn't even bother. I often wonder why too...

Daryl : Watching Dead Man Walking and Ravi Shankar. I think I was Indian in my heart at that time. I was restless with the limitation of guitars at that time (before I discovered the slide guitar!). I was absolutely convinced that no other instrument could pronounce such nuances and intimacy besides the sitar. It was a good thing that Robin was in India and he bought a sitar which we both attempted to share and erm, practice.

Robin : I actually got into Indian music during my 10-month sojourn in India; I got my stowaway to play with my sitar and together, make sweet, sweet music.

Most folks are wondering why the band took 7 years to release Normally Open. What's the excuse, guys?

Marvin : I'd be the first to admit that we take the music too seriously sometimes. But then again, I'd rather be faulted for being too serious than not at all. At one point, it became a really excruciating and painstaking process to see out the album's completion. Besides, we all had (our) inner demons to handle. Still, it's no excuse. We owe the people who supported us and ourselves this much.

Robin : During the 7 years, I'd think individually, we were trying to straighten out our lives and career paths, which wasn't exactly a bed of roses. Sorry for the wait; I hope the album's worth the delay.

Daryl : No excuses. It was one of the greatest learning experiences in my life. One of the most humbling, in fact. Actually, I think the recording took about 3 years...

Asher : I suppose we were all exhausted and disillusioned with making the album. We probably all felt the need to be away from the band for awhile, which explains the delay, I suppose.

I understand that some songs had over 50 guitar overdubs. I mean, even fuckin' Billy Corgan had only 48 for the Smashing Pumpkins track, 'Soma'.

Daryl : The amount of overdubs was crazy. We even had to keep tabs of our self-samples of noises, glitches and fill-ins on Mini-Discs so that we can bring it to Randolf to mix it in.

I love the vibe of the album. My only complaint is that there was too much focus on the mids for the mixing. Was this a conscious choice?

Robin : We deliberately wanted the album to have a stoner vibe, instead of a rock opera vibe. Hence, you noticed the uniformity in sound between songs of different tempos. So it was a conscious effort.

Asher : At that time, when the album was done, it just sounded right.

Daryl : It sounded right when we did the final mixdown too. But yes, the mids are a bit harsh during the mastering process.

Camra has often been compared to defunct Brit band, The Verve. You guys are obviously tired of that comparison. However, I feel Normally Open seems to strengthen that impression. What are your thoughts on that?

Asher : To each its own, when we came out with the songs... (Indecipherable shit)... Hehehehe

Robin : I think the comparison comes from the fact that we use similar hypnotic vibes for the music which explains the comparison. But truthfully, we tap into a lot of classic psychedelic bands like The Doors and Pink Floyd.

Marvin : I know we probably can't quell these comparisons, but it's never been our mantra to play a certain way or sound like a certain band.

There's an evolution to the current Camra sound. What direction is Camra taking its musical voyage to? And work on the new album has already started.

Robin : 15 degrees port side. But seriously, Camra has always been evolving as a songwriting unit. We get easily bored and it's so much more interesting when we tap our different influences to create different soundscapes. But one thing's for sure, we always subconsciously leave our signatures on these experiments.

Asher : How the fuck would I know? These guys won't tell me shit. All I'm told to do is to play to the fucking metronome. Honestly, we all grew up with different tastes and influences in music... We somehow know that within ourselves, we can't play the same old stuff like when we first started out. It'll be suicidal if we did that. That's just not Camraroc.

Daryl : I think we are going for the kill... songs that carry its own weight even if it is played with just a guitar or piano and a crooning voice.

Marvin : I'd like to think that we're growing as songwriters and hope that discerning listeners will grow with the music as well. It's bad enough to not have enough support in the scene, but it's criminal to think that we can get away with playing the same type of tunes for the next 15 years.

Asher : Yeah, I was going to say that next.

Randolf Arriola serves not only as a producer for the album; he is somewhat a mentor to the band. How did you hook up with him?

Robin : We met him during our sessions in Green Room. We didn't really have a clue at that time about the recording process, so he listened to our music, liked what he heard and helped us through the recording process.

Asher : To put it succinctly, if it weren't for him, we wouldn't have been able to complete the album.

Daryl : I agree with Asher. He has the heightened sensitivity both as a musician and as a person. We were like 20 or 21 years old when we were attempting to nurture our dreams. Randolf facilitated that and went along with us!

Jassica used to play keyboards for the band. She left, due to creative differences which, to us, have to be the most cliché and boring reasons a band can muster. Out with it. Have Marvin teased her incessantly about her weight or some other touchy female topics?

Marvin : Of course not. If anything, Jassica should be eating more. But seriously, the split coincided with personal changes. So, it's just timing, I suppose.

Robin : I guess during the 7 years of self-discovery away from the band, our ideas have changed somewhat. Whatever it is, she played an integral part in our music and you can hear her all over Normally Open.

Daryl : She even played some acoustic guitars on 'Saving Grace'! I guess I should be the one to (clarify) it. Jassica and I were in a relationship when we were playing in the band. We broke up after a while, and I guess it was odd for her, as well as for me and the guys. Her role as a keyboardist is greatly missed, as you can see during our previous gig at The Esplanade. I had to fill-in on the keyboards at times.

Camra prides itself in its ability of supporting the Singapore alcoholic beverage industry. Who is usually the last man standing?

Marvin : I reckon I'm pretty good with my drink; the only problem is I don't know when to stop. So usually, if there's enough alcohol lying around, I'd be assuming Ian Brown's monkey pose. So I'd have to say either Rob or Asher.

Asher : For the record, we aren't raging alcoholics; it's just more fun with alcohol around us. Only whiskey. No beers please.

Robin : Daryl's usually the last one standing, cos he goes home first.

Daryl : Spot on, dude. Either that or I wasn't there at all!

the workmen's tools

Time for AYP to get down and dirty with Camra and talk some shop...

Robin was overheard muttering and shaking his head in disbelief while pointing to your drunken antics, "Shit... lead singer...". Has your confrontational behavior ever gotten the band in any sort of trouble?

I suppose it's in the genes. Indians and alcohol mix oh too well. Am I confrontational? Not at all; in fact I'm quite the contrary, all peace, love, fairies and shit.

Do band vocalists really suffer from LSD or "Lead Singer Disease"?

Haha. Perhaps, but I think we've also been blessed with the incendiary misbehaviors of Brian Jones, Keith Moon and that little kitten from Aksi Mat YoYo. So there, not all vocalists are wayward and full of themselves.

Who do you look to for inspiration in the vocals department?

Too many to mention actually. But if push comes to shove, I have to say my faves are Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. Quite evidently, though they are my faves, it doesn't mean I can quite sing like them. Sigh... Oh, I'd like to also mention Robert Smith and Dave Gahan...

You describe yourself as "guy who sings in a band" rather than a "singer". Modesty, dude?

Not really, I'm just not too good a singer, you know. And besides, I'm terrible at everything else. The mike's the only place they let me near, so there...

The themes of your lyrics are often abstract. What inspires your lyrics writing?

I can go on a 200-page rhetoric about the metaphysical and cathartic ruminations of the words, but why would I bore the readers?

But seriously, lyrically, we usually grapple with the common themes that afflict our daily lives. Except it's written in a way that's familiar to us. Just little vignettes into our lives, you know. It's never a conscious effort to be abstract; it just seems to come out that way.

Your guitar playing is so layered and dense. Fuzz of Phorous and IF confesses to be a fan of your playing, calling you "the Nick McCabe of Singapore". How do you construct your parts for recording?

As Jimmy Page once said, he'd play something, make a mistake, and repeat that mistake four times. That or using musical lines facilitates thoughts and emotions in my head. As for the recording process specifically, I would run several raw takes and see how it fits.

Liz Faser from Cocteau Twins was really a great inspiration to me as to forming counterparts, canons, parallel parts, etc. But you know what, I don't really have a formula. And I guess that's what keeps it refreshing. At times, Randolf would attempt to break it down to (chord) voicings and stuff to help me find compliment parts. At times I would intentionally ignore that and go with the "just whack" theory.

Judging from the album, it's gotta be a bitch in deciding on what parts to play. On 'All Our Remedies' and 'Revelations', there's gotta be at least 4 guitar parts going on at the same time. And there's you choking that 6-string chicken.

Not really. I had lots of fun. I felt like I was a seven year old kid given ample space to muck around for as long as I want (or as long as I stayed awake). It was a beast just getting the right sound and the right drive most of the times, especially since I hadn't got much gear and toys to begin with!

Who rocks your musical boat?

My therapist... and Craig Armstrong.

What's your current set-up? What guitar are you using?

I own one electric and one acoustic. Too modest.

Les Paul Custom (probably around the late 1970s, modified with three ugly humbuckers, one Super Distortion Dimarzio at the bridge, and two erm, other Dimarzio). Apparently, it was custom made by this dude who worked at Gibson before. I bought it second-hand from Eza's (used to be a big musician in Singapore) friend who was helping him to sell it. I think I haven't pay off in full yet! The Les Paul has been made out-of-phase, with push-pull tone knobs as switch selectors.

My acoustic guitar was also bought second hand at a steal. As you can see, I would really appreciate if there are any sponsors out there to endorse me with another guitar. Maybe, a Telecaster?

I love Jim Dunlop duplex picks, hard gauges. I swear by them. I use good old Dean Markley strings (.11), and glass and steel slides by Dunlop. As for effects, I use a Yamaha volume/expression control, Vox wahwah, Sans Amp GT2, Boss DD5 delays, Boss Tremolo Pan, and Boss Overdrive at times.

Favourite amps? Roland Jazz Chrous!

During the photo shoot, you were the butt of the band's jokes. Do you ever feel like killing them if they ever go overboard?

Nah... We've known each other since primary school and we tend to know how far we can go without beating the crap outta the other guy. Humor is a key essential in Camra. I guess that's how we show our love without sounding like a fruit cake. Heh

The rest of the band tells me grudgingly that you are undoubtedly the best musician in the band. I understand you have a love for jazz as well. Do you incorporate that into your playing?

Best musician?!? Damn!! Hahahahha!!

Louis Armstrong once said that when he solos, he plays only notes that matters. That's pretty much how I approach our music, song structure and all. I don't just narrow down to the usual indie darlings as references but a whole host of different genres. including jazz.

How did you get your hands on an Epiphone Hofner bass copy?

I got it at Swee Lee on a Saturday afternoon in 1998. Daryl and I found it a week ago while loitering around town after our sitar class. I couldn't get over her so... I remembered Daryl pointing out that the sound should take precedence over her looks and I said, "FUCK THE SOUND! SHE'S A FRIGGIN BEAUTY!!" I performed at a gig (BigO singles club promo gig at the Levi's store in Raffles City) right after getting her. Thank God, she sounded good.

How's your set-up like?

Currently I'm using my Epiphone Viola through a Boss ME-50B which caters to all my "shoegazing" fantasies. It's like a space rack to me. Sure, the music sounds good already but it doesn't hurt to put a little more red chili into it, aye? :p

I use a fretless for songs that require that "soft" touch and strange tunings (DGDG) as well. It's a Yamaha which has no series numbers: "El Cheapo" (and she, erm... sounds good... surprisingly). She goes through my old trusty Tech21 SansAmp Bass Driver.

I don't really have a preference for amps as I rely mainly on my pedals to give me the tone that I desire. And my fingers which I strongly believe contribute 80% to one's tone.

For several songs like 'Saving Grace' and 'Your Generosity', you basically sat out for the most part of both songs. Most drummers will jump into the tune and lay down a beat or add some flushes from the cymbals. That requires a lot of self-control on your part.

'Saving Grace' was actually written as a rock song with heavy percussive drums in them. But we just seemed to like the stripped down version better. By the way, I played the handclaps in that number. As for 'Your Generosity', I had absolutely nothing to do with it; I wonder why it's in the album.

You mention that you never play a straight beat. Why the aversion to playing straight?

I would love to play straight beats for a change, just that our music doesn't seem to call for them. But I assure you the next album will have straight beats in them.

Who do you count upon as your drumming heroes?

Raj from now defunct Havana Haze, John Bonham, Jimmy Chamberlain, Dave Abbruzzese, Mitch Mitchell and of course, (Throb)'s Ray Aziz. I grew up in my early teens listening to these guys play, me trying to emulate them on my cardboard boxes and pillows at home.

What is your preferred drum kit like? Would there be a specific type of cymbals, sticks and snare you will use?

Actually, I don't own a drum kit. I would love to if I knew someone who could soundproof my HDB room. But I would love to have a DW or a Ludwig set, preferably the latter. A 14x26 bass drum, 14" 400 series snare, 16" & 18" Paiste cymbals and maybe a 16x16 floor tom...

Yeah, that would be lovely, wouldn't it!?

normally open...

Lounge Lizard subjects Camra to the heat and asks about their album, normally open...

1. Some
Daryl : Some was recorded practically on an 8-track Portastudio at our friend's place (Joel Louie from defunct Singaporean shoe-gazer band GentlyFall). At the initial phase in a pro studio, we actually made a mistake when we did a sub-mixdown of the acoustic guitars and the drums together. The engineer at Green Room did not keep the raw tracks! Thank God we were able to work with that. Joel should be rightfully credited for helping us record this song.

Marvin : Hmm, it's really hard to remember what was going through my head at precise moments when these songs were written. So I'd just give a brief on what we're on about.

'Some' basically dealt with the issue of trust, whether it was between family, lovers or friends. I think anyone faced with such a conflict can identify with the words. I had this dark "Tim Burton-ish" vision of an enchanted forest after I wrote the words, I often wonder why since I never took mushrooms...

2. All Our Remedies
Daryl : The real technical nightmare for the album was about transiting from analog to digital realm. We were caught in the midst of an era where digital recording was becoming less expensive, while we were still meddling with old analog mixers real-time. It scourged a scar in us when we found out the main parts that we recorded on 8-track machines were stretched… physically stretched which makes the parts drift and lagged as the song progresses. Oh my gosh!

So on one hand, we had drum parts that were perfectly fine on digital format (.wav files), and on the other hand, we had bass and guitar parts on analog tapes that seems to play out of time after a while. We took awhile to figure it out, amidst pangs of agony and depressive thoughts. We had to meticulously chop up the parts, note by note, in the digital realm. It was so painstaking... At times it took nights without sleep, just assisting Randolf with the cropping. He did that mad-scientist job for this. Thank God!

'All Our Remedies' pretty much suffered those similar effects of "drifting" in the recording process, which we resorted to sampling our own parts onto MiniDisc via the analog mixers at my place, then transporting it to Randolf’s place to do the placements on Cubase.

Marvin : Part Robert Frost, part autobiographical. I think this song was written around the time of my grandpa's passing.

3. Better Appeal
Daryl : Joel had lent me an old analog delay rack that he just bought off the Net. I think it was an Aria analog delay. It swelled and roared like a wild beast! It was used on the main guitar tracks on this song.

Some of the analog synth sounds you hear at the loud sections were played by Jassica on an old Electone organ that was given to my Mum by her ex-boss. We managed to use some of the sounds as drones and pads, but it sure was a real chore trying to record it with minimum humming noise.

On the second half of the song, you'd hear a Yamaha PSR-520 keyboards running through a SansAmp (GT2) guitar pedal. Some of the other roto-vibe guitar sounds were courtesy of Randolf's Digitech processing rack.

Most of the tracks we tried to keep the raw energy present in the mix. As far as we could, we kept the drum tracks paired with live bass lines, and maybe even, some guitars.

I salute all efforts on Marvin's part as the vocalist, as he had to sing his parts sooo sooo many times! Technically, we wanted to double up his vocals and all of us were really pushing it really hard. It got to a point that it was quite painful hearing this particularly song over and over again.

Marvin : This song is awfully painful to remember, not because of what went on behind the words but because it just reminds me of a dark somber dirge. I was struggling with my life around that time. Definitely not the make-out song on the album.

4. Saving Grace
Daryl : Both 'Saving Grace' and 'Your Generosity' were clicked in tempo with a drum machine powered by the Electone. We had the honour of Kamal Singh to play tabla with us for these two tracks, as well as for 'Reasons'. Kamal was a fresh tabla graduate at that time. It was truly exhilarating just listening to him play.

The funny thing about this song was that I had to transport the 8-track Portastudio to Kala Mandhir, The Temple of Fine Arts where Robin and I used to take sitar lessons to record the sitar and tamboura parts. I had the help of a friend to click the record button for me, while I was clamped on by the vintage sitar. But the odd thing was that I didn't have the permission to do recordings there. They thought I was just a good ol' student coming back to practice. They were a little pissed to find out about our little experiment.

When we were back at Randolf's place to do the handclaps and stuff, it was the most hilarious time as we kept laughing hysterically, not knowing for what reason. It seemed like Asher was high on holy laughter.

Marvin : This one I like for its simplicity. It's got the elation factor in it. Kinda like "If it hurts, it'll be ok. If it's good, I'm on my way??" Why not?

5. Reasons
Daryl : For this track, Robin, Asher and Kamal really stole the show. We threw a 16 beat delay onto Asher's drums while the tabla kicked in on the intro of 2nd verse. It was hypnotizing just even being part of it.

Once again, I borrowed one of Randolf's toys, an electric guitar synth (some Roland synth) and mimicked the harpsichord sound at the outro. It took us a long time to dial up that song. We kept the guitar parts to this song to the minimal. Marvin was pretty versatile to sing the 1st verse differently compared to how we used to do it in the live set in the past.

This song was tuned to D, Bb, D, G, Bb, and D on the guitars and a whole step down on the bass.

Marvin : Every single line enunciates a vibe, like a painting ya know. Every stroke and line added colour to form the actual picture, except they were not deliberated and methodical, like abstract expressionism... or maybe just confusion.

6. The King
Daryl : The effect of making this song sound like it was recorded in a warehouse was apt. It fitted to Asher's brushstrokes and the mellow voice that steers through the song, amidst Robin's bassline which was layered 4 times, believe it or not.

You'd notice that there's a drone throughout the song. Jassica and I recorded that real-time. We used a handphone to hold down the root key on the keyboards, blasted the amps with it being miked up, turn the record button on, and left the room to get twenty minutes worth of the drone. After that, we really felt zoombified.

Marvin : I don't know how to even begin explaining this one. Maybe it's about Elvis????

7. Decline
Daryl : Marvin nailed this song pretty much just right for this track on the first few occasions. Before we discovered digital backmasking, we manually recorded a guitar strumming 4/4 timing with drumstick clicks, flipped the tape backwards and re-recorded that part i.e. old-school backmasking. It was pretty interesting.

The lyrics remained the most poignant across the whole record. I tried to capture that emotion when recording the slide guitar at the outro. I just kept playing that over and over till I had a fixed melody line which I will never forget.

Marvin : And we've reached the make-out song on the album. Actually no, it's not happy at all as the title suggests. It's really about moving on in life when people just seemingly fall out of the picture, or worst, you're unwittingly falling out of someone's picture.

8. My Reflections
Daryl : Ahh... the cheesy drone of the Electone organ introduces the song along with a big fat cello, intertwined with mousy pizzicato violins. Asher's drumming was highly critical for this song, and he nailed it spot on within the limited studio time at the Mastering Suite (We had a low budget).

This song probably ran in to the most overdubbed tracks and CPU space. The three nightmares that plagued this song: 1.the length (9:30mins)...what the hell. 2. String quartet (took ages to notate in readable fashion, and arranging schedules to get the sessionists in) 3. Upright Piano (Remember when I told you that my piano couldn't be tuned? Gosh, it was like ¼ step lower than the standard 440 pitching which meant that Randolf had to digitally pitch it up note for note! Thanks Randolf!)

Marvin : 'My Reflections/Revelations' were written as a long 2-parter. This was our sonic opera not just aurally, but lyrically. It was written like a classical piece with time signature movements, mood variations and it applied to the lyrics as well. I think it's invigorating to some extent. How you can lose yourself and find yourself in that one instance (except we couldn't possibly describe it more succinctly than 14 mins). I can't remember why we decided to give these 2 songs separate listings in the album when in fact they were written as one.

9. Revelations
Daryl : There is an eerie tale to the recording of the string section for this song. The intro of the string section was actually taken from the middle of the songs i.e. since we had no click track before the song kicked in, we got the string players to play the scores midway through the song. Thus, we cut and shifted the parts as an intro. But here's the strange thing. As we isolated and monitored back the recording of the string parts, there seemed to be an additional line in there which we didn't recall playing, recording or even writing. Blimey! I had the chills... Nevertheless, it sounded good in there. It sounded like it was a "ghostly" counterpoint to the original melody, which harmonized very well.

When I demo-ed the string section on keyboards, Joel actually commented that it sounded like Popeye the Sailor Man. I can't seem to shake that off my head.

Here, the guitar tracks were minimal as well. Robin did an excellent job singing harmonies to Marvin's vocal lines.

Marvin : As mentioned earlier, 'Revelations' make up the second part of this epic tune. Where the first one meanders and seemingly drifts away, this one pulls everything else back into perspective. After all, it's your life, right?

10. Your Generosity
Daryl : While recording the click tracks (Electone drum machine) for this song, some ambient noises creeped into the mix (e.g. kids playing at the playground downstairs my HDB flat) which we kept it in there.

A secret: Robin did not use a bass guitar to record his bass parts after all. He used my electric guitar with the tone dialed to zero! Even Randolf didn't know about that! And he also thought that I used the sitar for the leads in this song which in fact I used a copper slide on an acoustic guitar. Some things can remain as secrets... The main guitar was tuned to a D, G, D, G, G, D.

Marvin : Our only "protest song" ever. We will never be able to write one like this again. It happened a long time back when we rented a car and started driving around Singapore in the wee hours of the morning with guitars, sitars and bongos in the boot and just searching for the right place to play. We settled at some secluded spot near the coast and started banging this one out. Everything just flowed including the words. It's really about the subtle notions we conceive of others in both cultural and social context. I won't say much else; the song was meant to be subtle anyway.